Wigan groomer and child porn pervert jailed

Court reporter

A Wigan pervert’s computer child porn stash was found when he was snared by a paedophile hunter.

Gary Dobson is beginning a 12-month prison sentence after justices found him guilty of making indecent images of children.

The hearing was told the 48-year-old of Aspull, came to grief after he groomed online and tried to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old girl. “She” was in fact a trap set by so-called paedophile hunters who then reported him to the police.

Officers raided his home in March 2018, arrested him and analysis of his laptop found sexual images of childre falling into categories A (the most serious in law) and B.

Dobson pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and received a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years. But he denied the two indecent images charges.

Representing himself in court, he disputed police witness claims that he requested them during a conversation on the messaging mobile app KIK. After deliberations though, the bench found him guilty and he was given a six-month sentence for each, with the jail terms to run consecutively.

Dobson was also ordered to sign on the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years, complete a 40-day rehabilitation activity requirement, 150 hours’ unpaid work and must pay a £115 victim surcharge and £620 prosecution costs. He had pleaded guilty to cannabis possession but no separate penalty was handed down.